1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a structure of a bicycle front fork, and more particularly to a bicycle front fork in which a buffering mechanism is built.
2. Prior Art
It has been proposed to build a buffering mechanism in the front fork as means for improving the riding comfort on a bicycle.
In one of the conventional buffering mechanisms of this kind, a pair of expandable fork blade portions are provided, in which a pair of supporting pipes extending downwardly from a crown portion of the front fork are respectively fitted in a telescopic configuration with the corresponding sliding pipes , provided at their lower ends with bearing portions to support the front wheel. In the sliding pipes of the fork blades, an elastic member is disposed which receives a compressive force from the compression of the two pipes fitted together in a telescopic configuration. On account of this construction, specifically, by the buffering action of the elastic member, the riding comfort on a bicycle is improved.
However, in the conventional buffering mechanism, the elastic members are disposed in the sliding pipes having the bearings for the front wheel, and in some cases, for reasons of design, the sliding pipes incorporating the elastic members become smaller in diameter toward the lower ends or are often curved forward in an arch.
When the sliding pipes are formed in such a special design, in the thin and long sliding pipes, the capacity of the elastic members is sometimes restricted, so that it becomes difficult to secure a sufficient capacity for the elastic members to adequately buffer a strong impact force.
In addition, in each sliding pipe, two stopper mechanisms are incorporated: one to prevent the elastic members from being subjected to an excessive compressive deformation and the other to prevent the sliding pipe from coming off from the supporting pipe, namely, a measure against a rebound. For this reason, mounting the buffering mechanism in the front fork is not easy and the construction related to the buffering mechanism becomes complicated.